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Philippines’ economic team highlights vibrant Philippines before investors

SINGAPORE – Top economic officials of President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines highlighted income opportunities in and strengths of the Philippine economy before a wide range of investors in their first international roadshow held Tuesday in this city state.

Philippines’ Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, and Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, together with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla, Jr., spoke before about a hundred foreign direct and portfolio investors during the Philippine Economic Briefing, which carried the theme “The Rising Philippine Economy: Powering Gains with Global Partners Through Shared Goals.” The event was also graced by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.

The Philippines is aptly described as the next economic powerhouse of Asia, with GDP growth expected to hit the official target of 7-8 percent from 2018-2022, even as inflation is kept at bay.

Sustained and robust growth is targeted to push the Philippines toward upper middle income status by 2022 with a per-capita GNI of at least $5,000, up from $3,550 in 2015.

Expected growth drivers over the medium term include the government’s bold infrastructure program, higher public spending on social services, and strong household consumption on the demand side, plus rising activities in manufacturing, business process outsourcing, real estate, construction, wholesale and retail trade, and tourism on the supply side.

All of these are anchored on the solid foundation of prudent economic policies and strong macroeconomic fundamentals.

Moreover, the growth drivers combine with the Philippines’ young and vibrant population—with an average age of around 24 years old—which will support solid growth in productivity over the next decades.

The Philippines’ economic officials said there are a host of investment opportunities in the country that potential investors may find worthy of exploring. These include infrastructure and infrastructure financing, tourism, banking, wealth management, manufacturing, agriculture, and bond market, among others.

“With the Philippines primed to play a key role in the vibrant growth of the AEC (ASEAN Economic Community), the Duterte administration is looking at increased private sector participation in the financing of its projects meant to close the infrastructure backlog, attract investments, create jobs, and achieve financial inclusion,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.

Dominguez said that "while the government is accessing grants and ODA (official development assistance) loans in the early part of its infrastructure buildup plan, it is looking at the greater involvement of private investors once the big-ticket projects are in place."

“We have also endorsed for Congressional approval a Comprehensive Tax Reform Program that is designed to help provide a steady revenue flow not only for this ambitious infrastructure program, but also for the Duterte administration's programs on human capital development and social protection that are geared to accelerate poverty reduction in the medium term,” he said.

Meantime, Secretary Pernia harped on sound and growth-enabling policies of the one-year old Duterte administration.

“We are enhancing the ease of doing business by streamlining processes in line agencies. We are strengthening integrity of our public institutions, such as through freedom of information beginning with the Executive branch, to the example, and other anti-corruption initiatives. Government is now much faster in approving big-ticket infrastructure projects, having rationalized certain procedures. All of these result in an environment that is more welcoming to business,” Pernia said.

For his part, Secretary Diokno highlighted the Philippines’ massive infrastructure program, dubbed “Build Build Build,” for which the government intends to spend between US$160 billion and US$170 billion over the next five years.

Infrastructure projects are aimed decongesting urban areas and spreading growth opportunities in the countryside, thereby enticing more investments.

“Our infrastructure program is the boldest the Philippines has ever had. With the amount of money we will infuse on expressways, airports, seaports, mass transit systems, among others, the Philippines will enter its Golden Age of Infrastructure. Ambitious as it may sound, the government is keen on realizing this infrastructure agenda,” Diokno said.

BSP Governor Espenilla, who took the helm of the BSP last July 3, said the BSP is keen on contributing to an environment that enables more job-generating investments on a sustainable basis by ensuring price stability as well as financial stability.

He said further that the BSP, recognized as a pillar of strength for the Philippine economy, under his watch will observe the policy of “continuity plus plus.” “This simply means we will build on our strong and stable foundations by instituting additional game-changing financial sector reforms that will complement the economy’s robust and inclusive growth agenda,” Espenilla added.

“Following the full liberalization of the Philippine banking system in 2014, we intend to raise the bar further by having even more competition, which will bring in better innovation, especially digital innovation, and prompt industry players to improve delivery of financial services to consumers. At the same time, we want to champion capital market development. We will do these through an enabling regulatory environment. Given this backdrop, investors in financial services are certainly welcome,” Espenilla said.

Meantime, Standard Chartered, which hosted the event, underscored the importance of multi-stakeholder partnership to deliver this ambition.

"Bank-investor-government as a three-way partnership is an even more robust and sustainable partnership. Financial institutions have always played a key role in supporting the country’s infrastructure development, and on a broader scale, the overall growth of the Philippine economy. A well-defined and fair model is one that provides an appropriate risk allocation and addresses the minimum expectations of investors. Infrastructure projects that meet these prerequisites will generate both economic returns and social benefits,” said Standard Chartered Bank Regional CEO for ASEAN and South Asia Anna Marrs.

“We have supported the country’s economic endeavors over the years, participating in the country’s infrastructure projects, liability management, and financing exercises as one of the book-runners in the Republic’s sovereign bond issuances and one of the country's Sovereign Rating advisers,” added Lynette V. Ortiz, CEO and Head of Global Banking Philippines.

Business leaders from the Philippines, particularly the heads of Ayala Corporation and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, added substance to the discussions during the event by participating as panelists during the Q&A session.

According to Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Chairman and CEO of Ayala Corporation, a Philippine conglomerate that has done business with Singaporean partners for decades, “We are pleased with the government’s economic team, led by seasoned, experienced, and like-minded individuals who are well respected by the private sector. We also take great comfort in the economic team's focus on overweighting infrastructure spending to complement the country's strong economic consumption statistics.”

On a similar note, PCCI President George Barcelon said: “The Philippines has never been more open to investors. With doing business significantly improving and infrastructure projects gaining traction, investing in second tier areas around the country has been made possible. We have our local chambers nationwide who can help investors navigate these opportunities."

The roadshow in Singapore is first of a series of economic briefings in Asia that the economic team of President Duterte plans to hold over the next couple of months to actively engage existing and potential investors to the Philippines.

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One of the prominent business personalities who will keynote this year’s Davao iCon will be AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes who will speak on “Air Linkages: Davao from a growing number of destination.”

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PTIC-Singapore promotes the ASEAN 2017 Business and Investment Program in Singapore The Singapore International Chamber of Commerce (SICC) invited Philippine Commercial Counsellor Glenn Peñaranda from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Philippine Trade & Investment Centre (PTIC) – Singapore to speak in its March 2017 ASEAN Committee meeting. Peñaranda shared development plans for ASEAN as the Philippines assumes chairmanship this year.  On top of the country’s agenda is steering the ASEAN to full economic integration through greater trade and investment among member countries. 

The Philippines also plans to conclude the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) that will link the ASEAN—an economic powerhouse with a market of 600 million people—to its six Dialogue Partners, creating an even bigger market of 3.5 billion people.

Peñaranda emphasized the ASEAN 2017 Business and Investment Program (ABIP) which the DTI spearheads.  He detailed the ABIP’s major activities that will complement the country’s priorities under the ASEAN Economic Community pillar, which include regulatory coherence; micro, small, and medium enterprises; innovation; and women and youth.

Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Antonio Morales also graced the meeting and talked about the over-all advocacies of the Philippines under the theme “Partnering for Change, Engaging the World.”  The theme aims to highlight the country’s resolve to consolidate ASEAN Community for its people with the sense of togetherness and common identity, ready and able to take its rightful place in the global community of nations.  Morales added that it is a grand year for the country as ASEAN marks 2017 as its 50th anniversary. 

Peñaranda covered as well the latest investment climate and opportunities in the Philippines, highlighting the strong presence of Singapore businesses in various sectors in the country.   Its ready pool of young, skilled labor force makes it an attractive destination for Singapore firms.

“I am delighted to work closely with the SICC in helping open doors for Singapore companies.  I look forward to exploring new avenues and sustained commercial relations and public-private partnerships with the SICC member companies,” said Philippine Commercial Counsellor Glenn Peñaranda.  

The SICC is the first business chamber in Singapore.  Its key themes are on ASEAN, innovative collaboration, realities of the present and sustainability of Singapore.  The Chamber celebrated its 180th in February of this year.

(photo shows fr L-R) Philip Pang, SICC Director for Gov’t Rel; Commercial Counsellor Peñaranda; Ambassador Antonio Morales; Victor Mills, SICC Chief Executive

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In line with the celebrations for the International Women's Month in March, the Department of Trade and Industry together with the ASEAN Women Entrepreneurs’ Network will bring together women from ASEAN member states for a conference focused on Technology and Innovation.

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The Philippines needs to build an additional 7,000 megawatts of power generation capacity over the next five years to support its fast-growing economy and foreign investors are invited.